before congress this week about the attack that killed four americans in the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya. >>> kate made her first appearance since being hospitalized for pregnancy sickness. >>> wall streets begin the final full week of trading with the tragedy in mind. along with a renewed push for tighter gun control legislation. >>> several police departments are across the country like this one in maryland held gun buybacks over the weekend. trading firearms and ammunition for cash. >>> elsewhere the u.s. postal service said today will be the busiest day of the year for mailing christmas cards. >>> meanwhile fed ex is expected to report a slip in profits. >>> also ahead this week, earnings from walgreens and nike. a record at the weekend box office. the hobbit an unexpected journey earned nearly $85 million nationwide. the biggest december opening of all-time. >>> now, for another look at the weather here's nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. i can't remember the last time i have seen a movie. >> i have seen skyfall, the last movie that i have been to, it's hard to find time to get

. u.s. officials tell nbc news the syrian military loaded the precursor chemicals for sarn nerve gas into aerial bombs. that could be dropped from dozens of syrian fighter bombers. this week u.s. intelligence detected a flurry of activity at chemical weapons sites like this one. while u.s. officials confirm the precursor chemicals are loaded, they must still be mixed together to create the deadly sarin gas. the development shook the world. president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton issued strong warnings to syria's president assad that there would be serious consequences if he used chemical weapons. >> it's the point of no return. they're going to lose any sort of backing that they had from the chinese and russians in terms of blocking the u.n. vote. and it's my -- it's a suicide move. >> reporter: iraq's saddam hussein killed 5,000 kurds with a sarin gas attack in 1988. jim miklaszewski, nbc news, pentagon. >>> back here at home, fiscal cliff negotiations in washington are still up in the air. most lawmakers have gone home for a long weekend break. this as timothy geithn

. >>> there are new details about the stunning military operation and the u.s. navy s.e.a.l. who heroically gave his life to help save a doctor kidnapped by the taliban. nbc's jim has the story. >>> he was a highly decorated navy veteran killed sunday in afghanistan. the s.e.a.l.s set out to rescue an american relief worker dr. dilip joseph kidnapped last week on the road east of kabul. joseph was held hostage at an enemy complex in laghman province. as they approached the compound on foot, they came under intense enemy fire, from ak 478s, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. in the fierce battle the petty officer took a single bullet and later died from his wound. in the heat of that battle they miraculously rescued dr. joseph. he had earned a bronze star and two other awards. he's a native of monroeville, pennsylvania. he was widely admired by coaches and classmates alike. >> i remember nick real well. he was one of those guys you loved to have on your team. >> and he's a special, special person, so he won't be forgotten. >> reporter: dr. joseph works with an ameri

, the revolutionary guard captured a u.s. drone. the aircraft was flying in iran's airspace and brought down by electronic jamming. we're working to confirm this story. more details as soon as we have them. elsewhere, with only four weeks to go before we reach that fiscal cliff, republicans offer a proposal for a new deal. it had few specifics. the white house rejected it. tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. with a white house proposal and republican proposal on the table, you'd think we would have somewhere to begin negotiations. the white house says what republicans have offered isn't even a start. six governors, democrats, and republicans weigh in on the fiscal cliff today. what will they tell president obama about the spending cuts and tax increases now just 28 days away? >> we must reign in our out of control spending. >> reporter: republicans have an offer, $800 billion in new taxes, half what the president wanted. $600 billion saved in part by making americans wait until they're 67 to get medicare. plus more cuts to

, u.s. and other nato soldiers celebrated christmas eve away from their families and friends with a special meal and candlelight service. here is one soldier's take on not being home for the holidays. >> you know this job comes with a price. many of the soldiers they realize that price. so even though we'd like to be with our families we realize the importance of what we're doing here and we believe in it. >> while the first family vacations in hawaii, first lady michelle obama took phone calls from some lucky kids who are tracking the progress of santa claus through a site set up by norad. as it turns out, a record number of those kids and adults were looking for reel time updates on st. nick. as of midnight, trackers answered more than 111,000 calls. that is 4,000 more than last christmas. pretty cool. >>> major markets ended christmas eve on the downside, but who could be gloomy with santa on hand to ring the bell. chris botti jazzed up the stock exchange with a little christmas cheer. some 17 million shoppers were out yesterday with gift cardeds, wine and liquor topping last min

regime appears to be crumbling, leon panetta announced today that 400 u.s. troops were be deployed to turkey to protect against a potential syrian missile attack. now, officials say the move is largely a symbolic show of force to signal the u.s. will support the defense of turkey. today russia is denying that one of its top diplomats said that president bashar al assad is losing control of his country. nbc is live for us in cairo. he has the latest. ayman, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. a series of rapid developments inside and outside the country. inside syria, first of all, rebels announced they made very important gains on the outskirts of the city of aleppo and the capital damascus. in aleppo they're reporting to have taken over a military base belonging to the regime and in damascus, they've taken over a military installation on the outside of that country's airport. that also links to the issue of outside support for the syrian regime, including russia which says it will stand by president bashar al assad despite comments yesterday from a senior russian of

postpone the date that the u.s. would otherwise default on its legal obligations. geithner estimates his plan would free up about $200 billion, providing roughly two months of wiggle room. >>> well, last night on "the rachel maddow show," guest host ezra klein asked former clinton budget director alice rivlin on where we could see the fallout from the fiscal cliff. >> the real uncertainty i think is what the markets will look isn't in control of its own destiny because we're acting that way right now. now, if you're an investor, whether you're in some part of the united states or you're in some other part of the world, do you really want to buy american securities? do you want to invest in a country whose government isn't functioning? i don't think so. so, we could get a big market reaction, a drop in the stock market, and that might scare people. >> "the rachel maddow show" week nights at 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> home prices on the rise, syria's head of preventing defections decides to defect. your headlines are straight ahead. plus, connecting the d